Guest Post - How to Store Valuable Items to Protect Them From Damage

If you’ve ever had a leak in your house or faced a natural disaster, you might know how heartbreaking it can be to have your possessions damaged. Some items might be expensive or one-of-a-kind. Others might not be worth much money but have infinitely more value — such as those honeymoon photographs you hope to share with your grandchildren someday.

It pays to learn how to protect your most treasured possessions from harm. Here’s how to store five types of valuable items to protect them from damage.

1. Fabrics

Your wedding day is hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime affair. However, you spent a small fortune on your gown. You want to pass it down or simply keep it for posterity without having it turn yellow from unseen stains. Your best bet is to take it to a professional preservationist, preferably one that insures your treasure down to the last sequin.

You can DIY by wrapping your cleaned gown in washed, unbleached muslin and placing it in a wedding chest. However, remain aware that the DIY method is riskier.

Another item you might need to preserve is a flag. Fortunately, you can machine-wash many fabrics and hang them to dry. However, go to a dry cleaner if your flag uses nylon cloth or has a gold fringe, as the washer can damage them. From there, you can fold and store your flag or display it once it’s refreshed.

2. Fine China and Glass

Breakable items — like favorite holiday decorations and your grandmother’s china — require a special touch. Bubble wrap is a classic choice, but there are more eco-friendly alternatives, as well.

You can find special-made sustainable bubble wrap for those wine glasses with walls so thin that tapping them with your pinky could shatter them. You can most likely make do with newspaper for hardier pieces. Are you packing things up for a pending move? If so, household items like clothing and towels can provide padding that you don’t have to throw away upon reaching your destination.

3. Furniture

Maybe you downsized to a smaller pad after your child left for college, but you still want them to inherit your antique dining set when they buy their first home. Temperature extremes and humidity can cause wood to warp and even go moldy in the right conditions.

Your best bet is to disassemble your furnishings and loosely wrap them in fabric before placing them in a storage unit. A climate-controlled location is best, but your basement, attic, or even garage will work if it’s well-insulated. Use pallets to elevate your pieces off the floor to protect them from flooding. You can pick up used wooden ones at many hardware stores for free — so get savvy and save a buck.

4. Jewelry, Watches, Guns, and Money

The only time prying eyes should spy your grandmother’s inherited vintage engagement ring or vintage Ruger .357 is when you’re around to show your stash. Otherwise, such valuables belong under lock and key.

A locking gun safe is a must-have for any weapons enthusiast, regardless of whether your jurisdiction requires one. Store any valuable jewelry or cash in there as well, especially when you have guests over or go on vacation. 

Is a lock or a combination better? Both offer protection, but memorizing a code means no one can steal the digits out of your brain the way they could lift your keychain. Your safe should be fireproof and waterproof to prevent damage to your valuables.

5. Photographs and Love Letters

Photographs and written correspondence are perhaps the most valuable, yet delicate, items you have to store. Time can leave these items yellowed, water-stained, and indecipherable.

Perhaps the best preservation method is to use a scrapbook to protect your most treasured written and photographic mementos. Use clear plastic enclosures around items before slipping them into the attached photo corners to protect them from dust and abrasions.

How to Store Valuable Items to Protect From Damage

You want to save certain items for their resale or collector’s item value. Other things matter more because of the nostalgia they blossom in your heart. Keeping your items safe year after year requires a bit of savviness. Follow the tips above for storing valuable items to protect them from damage.

Author bio: Cora Gold is an avid writer and the Editor-in-Chief of women’s lifestyle magazine Revivalist. She is always finding new ways to spruce up her home, and she loves to share her inspiration with others. Keep up with Cora on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook. 

How You Can Avoid Unwanted Fires In Your Home

Your home may be one of your most significant investments. It may be full of memories, and you may still be building other memories. It is, therefore, wise to protect it from any dangers. Not only that, but it would be such a loss when you lose your home and everything inside it from a fire disaster. It has been proven that home fires are also one of the top attributors to fires other than wildfires. When a house fire happens, usually, a smoke damage clean-up crew needs to come and clean up the situation. Although it may be impossible to control your home from ever catching fire, there are things that you can do to reduce such risks. Let’s go over them.

Avoid Leaving Open Flames Unattended

You may need to ensure that you are present whenever there is an open flame in your home. Whether you are cooking using your stove or using candles as your lighting source, you should always ensure they are attended to. The stove should first be turned off whenever you leave the said location, such as your kitchen. You also need to ensure that anything that can catch fire easily, such as curtains or blankets, is kept far from the open fire.

Store Your Flammable Items Properly

Flammable items may include your cosmetic products, such as your hairspray or even household cleaners. It would be wise to keep them far from heat. Exposing such items to heat may appear in their combustion. As a result, if you are not around that area, fire can quickly start, and spread pretty fast.

Check On Your Electrical Items Regularly

One of the causes of home fires is electrical fires resulting from electrical faults. There are those times when there may be an excessive flow of electricity on the electrical devices. As such, you may experience a surge in electricity, resulting in a fire to break out. It would be best to use surge protectors for your electronics. The excess electrical flow is eliminated when you have surge proctors in your home.

Regularly Check On Your Heating System and Dryers

Your home’s heating system and dryers need to be regularly cleaned. They often accumulate dust which gets trapped inside their lint. They should, therefore, always have a regular change of the filters. Failure to remove dust from the filter lint may result in a home fire. The reason for this is that dust is quite combustible, especially when exposed to lots of heat. You may need to hire professionals to regularly check and maintain these systems to be sure of their efficiency in performance.

In conclusion, it is no doubt that home fires can be disastrous. You don't only risk losing your items but may also be a risk to your life, especially if you are in the house during the fire breakout. Therefore, finding ways of reducing such risks is paramount.

4 Home Hazards You Can Prevent With Preparation

In any home, there's always a risk of damage or accidents. The chances of these crises occurring, however, can be reduced with planning and preparation. Here are four home hazards you can prevent with a bit of preparation and some forward-thinking.

Roof Leaks

A leaky roof practically guarantees that you'll have water damage to deal with. To prevent this problem, it's a good idea to engage in some basic roof maintenance. Have your roof inspected regularly, and repair any weather-related damage as soon as it comes up. You should also trim back any tree limbs close to your roof so that they won't blow up against it in a storm and loosen the shingles.

Electrical Accidents

Older homes often have wiring that isn't compatible with modern appliances. This can result in short circuits, electrical damage, or even electrical fires. To prevent this, have a qualified electrician come in and inspect your home's wiring. Update or replace the parts that aren't up to par, and you'll have less to worry about as your home ages.

Fires

The biggest fear for any homeowner is a fire. Whether started by wiring, a gas leak, or a lightning strike, fires can instantly destroy your home, belonging, and financial stability. While fires will always do some damage, you can mitigate the effects by having your home coated with flame-resistant sprays or installing non-flammable insulation. Materials from companies like Sun Fire Defense can help your home suffer less damage in the event of a fire, making the recovery process faster and simpler.

Basement Flooding

During large storms, it's far from uncommon for basements to flood. The solution, of course, is to install a sump pump to drain the water from your basement before it becomes an issue. To fully prevent basement flooding, you should also have a home generator running as an automatic power backup in case of a power outage. This way, the sump pump will continue to operate, even if the power goes out. A generator will also prevent you from having to go hours without power if a line goes down or a transformer blows, both of which can happen at any time due to high winds or falling trees.

As you can see, even the worst kinds of home damage can be prevented with some sensible preparation. Take these preventative measures in your home today to keep it safe from damage for years to come.

4 Effective Ways to Safely Store Valuables in Your Home

We all own a few items that we would rather keep out of plain sight—important documents, family heirlooms, expensive jewelry. These possessions can be worth a great deal and pose the highest risk for theft or even weather damage. As such, you should know how to keep these objects organized and stash them away safely so that others can’t find them. Here are some of the best ways to safely store valuables in your home.

Purchase a Safe or Lockbox

One of the most straightforward methods to consider is to purchase a heavy-duty safe or lockbox. These products can keep thieves out by securely locking your possessions behind several layers of quality sheet metal. While it can be a bit expensive, a quality safe ensures that your items are always exactly where you want them to be and only accessible by you.

Utilize Attic Storage

You could also try hiding your precious objects up in your attic space. Attics are a great place to keep anything you aren’t regularly using. From holiday decorations to old clothing, you can tuck a lot of things safely away here. Attics make an effective storage solution because of their accessibility as well. Though many of us dread going up into the attic, fortunately, so do thieves. The harder it is to find the valuables in question, the less likely it is that a thief will attempt to steal them.

Lock Them in Your Storm Shelter

Another noteworthy way to safely store valuables in your home is to keep them in your emergency shelter. These sturdy structures are more than just a place to go during a storm. In fact, modern models have several advanced features—including ample storage space for emergency supplies. Important legal documents and valuables top the list of essentials to keep in this space. This way, you always know where they are if heavy weather should damage your house.

Get Creative With Compartments

For smaller objects that don’t need a larger storage container, you can try placing them in hidden compartments around the house. Steer clear of hiding spots that most people know about, like the key under your welcome mat or envelopes of cash in the back of a drawer. The more creative you get with your hiding places, the better off you’ll be at keeping these valuables inaccessible.